LIFE OF PI UK Tour 2023. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
Full of technical brilliance and masterful puppetry, LIFE OF PI is a beautiful spectacle.
Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling book, LIFE OF PI, bursts onto The Lowry’s Lyric stage. Directed by Max Webster and full of technical brilliance and masterful puppetry, the show is a beautiful spectacle.
Piscine ‘Pi’ Patel (Tanvi Virmani –The Crown Jewels (West End and Tour); The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal)) is the only known (human) survivor of a shipwreck that claimed the lives of their family. Forced to share a lifeboat with multiple animals, including, most famously, a Royal Bengal tiger, we are told the story of Pi’s struggle for survival and dominance whilst dealing with great loss.
The show’s real strength lies in its stagecraft. The set appears simple yet is anything but: we are introduced to a bare, sterile hospital room with empty walls, a single bed, and nothing else. However, as Pi begins to recount their tale, the “empty” walls explode into a stunning recreation of an Indian zoo – complete with swaying flora and fauna.
LIFE OF PI UK Tour 2023. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
The cast carries and forms the cages, which they do seamlessly, and parts of boats, driftwood and other miscellaneous items are driven in from the wings on moving parts of the stage. The sides of the boat on which Pi is marooned slide in and out, reminding us that we are privy to a tale within a tale. These are also more versatile than they first appear, as they rock and pivot to mimic the movement of the Pacific Ocean. As well as the set, cast control, the raft Pi initially uses, the floating items they use to survive, and so much more. Pi is even swept up and over their heads on the raft to signify the depths or allow fish to enter the stage with ease.
Lighting is used superbly. Similarly to the set, there is a stark contrast from the clinical lighting of the hospital room to everywhere else: the colourful, vibrant zoo; the dark, metallic cargo ship; the deep blue, foreboding ocean; and the stunning fiery sunsets and sunrises that shine above it. As the story approaches its conclusion, the lighting changes again, using shadows to symbolise the more threatening reality Pi may have faced. Projection is used to inform the audience of dates, periods of intense suffering, and days without water, as well as to create the rain, which proves to be both a refuge and a destroyer. Again, the cast makes full use of the set and props, on one occasion using discarded food packaging to form a de facto screen.
LIFE OF PI UK Tour 2023. Photo Credit: Johan Persson
The biggest positive is undoubtedly the puppetry. It is with real credit to the cast that you learn to ignore the actors themselves and instead accept the animals as animals. The neutral, beige costumes aid this, but the movements are so natural it is easy to forget that a person is controlling each working part. From Orange Juice, the orangutan, swinging around the bowels of the ship, to the hunched, hysterical hyena and the pained, whinnying zebra, each is carried out magnificently. The tour de force, however, is Richard Parker, the tiger. Each mood is clearly defined with associated noises and movements. We see it hunt, stalk Pi, and relax – it even, in hallucinations, takes on human characteristics that are equally believable. It’s truly fantastic.
Despite the numerous positives, some things could be improved with the show. Given the scale of the stage and performance in general, much of the acting itself falls flat. Whilst this is not necessarily the case for Virmani’s trials and tribulations onboard the lifeboat (and given that Virmani herself was stepping in last-minute as illness cover, this could be accepted and understood), relationships between the family members are not well established – there is no real feeling there. In the zoo and then through the shipwreck, we are not drawn in enough to hurt when they perish, and some of Pi’s anguish is lost as a result.
The biggest concern was the lack of threat from the animals. Yann Martel himself said, “The animals have to be dangerous,” but this is only shown in brief glimpses, for example, when we are first introduced to the tiger in the zoo. The initial chaos on the lifeboat is rushed and not given the time and space needed to develop – we lose the sense of brutality between the hyena and the zebra, and others, as it is over so quickly. This lack of threat from the animals at key points means that any bonds eventually formed are less emotionally involved for the audience.
Overall, you cannot see past the stunning vision that is Life of Pi. Yes, there are shortcomings, but it is seriously impressively in moments and truly gorgeous to see on-stage.
LIFE OF PI runs at The Lowry, Salford, until 7 January 2024
Michael is a working actor. He studied Drama at Edge Hill University and his main passions are music, sport and acting. Alongside acting, Michael DJs around Manchester and, if not there, is usually found watching football or cricket!
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